This ethnographic investigation analyzes the effects of an Internet mailing list in operation since 1994 that is dedicated to the challenges and problems of living online. Marshall (online gender, Transforming Cultures Research Centre, U. of Technology, Sydney) provides analysis of members, their relationships with each other and their relations to their online universe, and the relationship between culture and communication and the ongoing process of categorization. He shows how people deal with the boundaries and ambiguities imposed by online communication, such as the untruth that one is perfectly free online and that everyone online is telling the truth. This could well serve as a model for studies of how other long-term online "cultures" formed and developed and what uses the members make of them. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
